The future on parade

An ambitious programme to regenerate Southampton’s council estates over the next 20 years got underway with the demolition of a former shopping parade. Out of the dust will emerge a new
neighbourhood and a new beginning for the city’s council tenants

The future begins at Hinkler Parade. This is where Southampton City Council opted to begin its ambitious ‘estates regeneration programme’ that aims to transform the city’s council estates over the next 20 years.

The £15 million scheme began with the demolition of the existing blocks of flats and the shopping parade that forms the local centre in Thornhill. In their place, a new Hinkler Parade will emerge, offering five new shops, a community centre and 106 homes. Of these, many are planned to be family housing.

“The estates regeneration programme we are embarking on is a long-term programme to deliver a real transformational change across some large public sector housing estates owned by the city council,” said a spokesperson for the council’s estate regeneration team.

“A lot of our residents really like their housing, but quite a bit of it is in need of significant investment. They were well-designed – 50 or 60 years ago. Some of the features are no longer particularly suitable for modern living. So, we are looking at a programme of selective redevelopment of our estates. In doing this we’ll be looking to introduce mixed tenure in any redevelopment proposals.”

Mixing the tenure-type of estates is intended to help revitalise communities and create more than just physical regeneration. Improving the life chances for residents of the estates living in the council’s 17,000 or so properties will be another key aspect of the regeneration; construction work is expected to provide its fair share of employment and training opportunities for local people.

The development is being led by builder Barratt Homes in partnership with First Wessex. The council has also worked closely with the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) and local agencies Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) and Thornhill Plus You. Beyond this project, the council has already earmarked a further four sites for an investment of £50 million that will lead to the delivery of 300 new homes.

Estate regeneration is a key part of the council’s commitment to improve the quality of lives for local communities. This is all about building community.

And given the long-term vision, it’s not just about building communities today, but also tomorrow, so with that long-view in mind consulting with local businesses and residents is absolutely critical. Before putting the plans for Hinkler Parade together, the council did precisely that and worked closely with both stakeholders that also shaped the final plans. With no objections to the proposals, the next stage was to work with families to relocate them so that the way became clear for demolition and eventual construction of the new facilities.

Trixie Nielson, chair of Thornhill Plus You, said: “I think the council is to be congratulated on the way it has led this project, consulting with local people and working alongside Thornhill Plus You. We are very excited about working with Barratts and First Wessex to secure a new community centre, local shops and homes for families.”

Meanwhile, even as it plans this major regeneration programme, the council is pushing forward with its Decent Homes work, but it would be wrong to suggest the two programmes are separate and distinct. In many ways, the council says, estates regeneration is part and parcel of the overall Decent Homes vision.

“It’s really all part of the work that we are doing to improve our housingstock, but recognising that continued ownership and refurbishment for Decent Homes is the right solution for a lot of our housing stock, but in some areas selective demolition and redevelopment is the right way forward,” added the estates regeneration team’s spokesperson “We’re working with our partners – both in business and the public sector – to look at ways we can use investment to maximise the regeneration benefits to create opportunities for local people.”

The estates regeneration programme remains very much in its infancy after a lengthy process of conception. The proposals for Hinkler Parade were first considered “in earnest” in 2008, after which there followed the process of consultation, planning, relocation and so on, before the pilot – and the programme – could commence on site. Of course, as any craftsmen will say, the secret to success in any job lies in the preparation.

With the credit crunch, the times are not perhaps the best to be embarking on a long-term programme of change, but economic cycles have their ups and downs, and there is little progress to be had in hunkering down and fearing the worst.

“We obviously have to work within constraints of the economic climate and the property market we have at the moment,” the spokesperson said. “The council very much recognises that this is something it will be working on for the long term. We are delivering some change now, but major change on the scale proposed will take time to deliver.”

Good things always take time, of course. At Hinkler Parade the council has taken those crucial first steps on a journey that leads towards, well, Southampton – but one that has transformed itself for the benefit of tenants and residents.